we have to understand the deep nature of change in order to be a good manager of change

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Parmenides was convinced that change is not possible

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Heraclitus believed in ever-present change

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Machiavelli

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The Prince, a book about change and resistance of change

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to change is a challenge

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there are two types of change

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1. the change of reality

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like a tree that is growing, each week it is different

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they way your company continually changes over time

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2. the change of perception

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the way you look at your company

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this is a difference kind of change

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discontinuous change

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changing your perception happens instantly

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a CEO in charge of change has to cope with the two types of change and the rules for each type of change are completely different

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not only your perception, but your client's perception

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to change is to change twice

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example #1: someone is always late

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1. change in reality

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GPS in the car

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meetings scheduled later

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its not enough

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2. change in perception

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has to change perception of punctuality

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"I want to be on time, I have time for a coffee and am better prepared"

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example #2: journalism

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1. change in reality

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people used to receive a newspaper and read it

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now they find stories from many newspapers via Google

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2. change in perception

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we have to realize that as we read, we also give information to Google

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example #3: mergers

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when two banks merge

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changing reality: you have to build a reality of one single accounting system, one single computer system

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changing minds: people need to change how they go about their work, this is often the forgotten half of change

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there has to be a new mental model in people's minds

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for a CEO it is hard to master, but it is necessary

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CEO needs a simplified vision

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a new vision involves not just a change of degree but a paradigm shift, a different way of perceiving

People:

Parmenides (515-450 BC)

[par-MEN-i-deez]

Founder of the Eleatic school of philosophy (universal unity of being), taught that change is impossible

existence is timeless, uniform, necessary, and unchanging

Heraclitus (535-475 BC)

[hair-ah-CLIGH-teez]

Taught that there is ever-present change in the universe

"No man ever steps in the same river twice"

self-taught and a pioneer of wisdom

lonely life

Spelling Corrections:

Machieaveli ⇒ Machiavelli

resistence ⇒ resistance

Ideas and Concepts:

From the be-aware-of-what-language-hides department via this morning's Philosophy for Managers class: "Whether on paper or online, we say that we 'read a news article', but this phrase describes two entirely different acts depending on whether the news article was on paper or online. Reading a news article online is equivalent to reading a news article on paper, but then afterward, filling out a form stating which article you read, the parts of the article you read, how fast you read the article, which advertisements were visible while you read it, whether or not you are interested in those advertisements, and with whom you shared the article you read and their relation to you, and then sending this completed form to Google and numerous other companies for processing."

Via tonight's Philosophy for Managers class: "Parmenides was convinced that change is not possible whereas Heraclites believed in ever-present change. CEOs in the 21st century, of course, are obliged to see the world as Heraclites did. Yet there are two types of change:(1) change in reality, and (2) change in perception. It may take you weeks, months, or years to change the reality of your company, but you can change the perception of your company in a moment, and when it happens, everything is different."